When we engage with the world in order to better it, often we end-up primarily studying, engaging with and intervening in formal systems. The totality however must include informal systems as well, since, depending on the context where we are situated, these informal systems might actually be the ones that predominantly shape or influence the Read more
Complexification isn’t a word of course, but as it seems to suggest, a tendency to make or become more complex. All living enterprises have a need to endure, to survive and thrive, the more varied and diverse, the better. As the enterprise accomodates a larger range of variation in a given moment, or, over time, Read more
The practice of Strategic Impact Making, particularly in complex contexts, touches on many bodies of knowledge and practices. However, this brief note talks about how Systems Practice is foundational to such work. Assuming that all such work begins with a certain objective, an issue or challenge that needs addressing, the System/s associated with that issue Read more
In my last post I had mentioned my rediscovery of the book, “Charting the Corporate Mind” by Charles Hampden-Turner (CHT), and how I find the whole topic of dilemmas particularly relevant to my practice of Strategic Impact Making. I am documenting here some of the key points that I see as pertinent and noteworthy. While Read more
In recent times there has been growing awareness of the concept of Complexity, with a corresponding increase in the number of publications that advise us on the need to embrace it, as a necessary condition of our times, and even more so going into the future. Complexity is the very nature of the reality on Read more
May 12, 2016 In the course of my work helping enterprises design breakthrough solutions to impact and growth, I have found there are five general patterns that help us understand why an enterprise might not experience growth, or if they do, why that growth might not maximize its true potential. The five inhibitors, may not Read more
October 31, 2015 In my previous posts I had focused on understanding the nature of value, the ecosystems that create that value with the participation of a multitude of stakeholders, and how these ecosystems and the contexts in which they live are dynamic and co-evolving. I also touched upon the enterprise as a participant in Read more
October 19, 2015 In my last post, “To co-create or not….”, I had painted a picture of the world of value-creation as comprising of an ecosystem and a co-creating web of entities. The enterprise, as we understand it in the conventional sense, has a choice as to the extent to which it intends to participate Read more
October 15, 2015 The concept of Value is an intriguing one. We are quite familiar with terms such as Value Proposition and have an intuitive understanding of the term Value as well. We often think of it as transactional. As an enterprise we make something, either a product or a service or some combination of Read more
October 14, 2015 In my previous post, I made an artificial distinction between Value Creating Systems and Value Receiving Systems. That distinction caters to our extant way of looking at the world in terms of enterprises that create value and its customers or receivers. However, useful as that distinction is for practical purposes, it actually Read more